Manchester Printers expands capabilities as Green-On adds a Versafire EV

Manchester Printers will take delivery of a Heidelberg Versafire EP in February, completing a series of investments that will give the company 25-30% greater capacity and add an estimated £400,000 to its £2.3m turnover.

Last year’s acquisition of Berkeley Business Forms means the Trafford Park-based firm anticipates a significant increase in workload. The company has added a guillotine, bookletmaker and placed an order for a second-hand two-colour litho press in addition to the ordering the Versafire EP.

‘We are well established in digital print,’ said group managing director Gavin Page. ‘We have to date been a Konica Minolta house but as we look to the next stage of development we needed the Heidelberg Versafire EP. We did test equipment from both companies but the Versafire means we can handle a heavier weight of paper, up to 470gsm, and print on textured stock with superb print quality which is vital for greetings cards work. The speed and reliability also really impressed us, and the banner sheet extension means we can handle A4 landscape brochures.’

The Versafire has been supplied with Heidelberg’s Digital Front End which features an uncoated simulation for better print quality on uncoated work.

Meanwhile commercial printing company Green-On has also purchased a Versafire EV. The Kent-based firm has responded to a surge in demand for digital printing, with the mid-2018 split of 80-20% litho to digital ratio becoming 65-35% by the end of the year.

‘As a point of interest we took an Epson proof we had run out for a litho job and output it on the Versafire on a standard setting,’ explained joint managing director David Harvey. ‘The colour match on the tones and solids really impressed us. It was a near perfect match!

‘I don’t ever see us running without litho. Digital works in tandem and gives us, and our customers, options in terms of price and quantity. We have some digital finishing including foiling that enables us to give a service we can’t on the litho side without putting work out to the trade. These technologies do really complement one another.’